HOA Stresses

I've never dealt with an HOA before because Sara Rose was conveniently nestled in the center of Garden Oaks without actually being part of that neighborhood. Doing as I please is 100% my preference but as it is, this guy was too good to pass up.

That means I have to submit all my exterior changes to the HOA to make sure they're good with it. Fortunately mom went and spoke with someone down there and it sounds like they basically just don't want you to paint your house purple, so we are trying to work with them and give them a heads up.

We already messed up because we demo'd the fireplace which necessarily meant getting rid of the chimney but you can't even tell there was a chimney there -

 Here's a better picture of my cool sky light. Unfortunately, holes are not weather proof, so I have to get rid of it.

 Here's my temporary solution

 Here's my man with a permanent solution

And here she is all fixed up. It's kind of a blink-and-you'll-miss-it change. I'm positive nobody but me was worried about the hole in my roof and nobody said anything so I've gotten away with it so far.

In the meantime I'm bidding out windows to every available person. I want to add a few more that I didn't originally plan on but having been in the space now that it's empty, changes need to be made.

Hope y'all have made a LIFE CHOICE on those windows because I sure haven't. Bidding them in black and white to get comfy with some pricing. As you can see here, I'm changing the windows on the back (the ones to bed 4) to be separated and give us an additional window in the dining. Also the master bath & master bedroom both need window systems, especially because I'm changing the primary window in the master to a door system.

Also I'm adding a peninsula and I was playing with that while I played with this so that's the phallic shape in the kitchen.

But beyond that, I'm trying to solidify some exterior options so here we are throwing up some creamy whites. Vote for your faves!

I tried to take these on different days to see them when it wasn't overcast but I had no such luck.

Which one do you think?

COLORS

7010 - White Duck

7042 - Shoji White

7571 - Casa Blanca

7012 - Creamy

7566 - Westhighland White

pollcode.com free polls

I also need to replace a ton of the siding on the garage and sides of the house. It's in pretty rough shape because it's a million years old, and I think I'm going to use something muted and easy like this guy -

You won't really see it from the front so I'm good with running it vertically if I have to, but I'm going to see if I can run it left to right. Why not, right? No idea if that's possible but I don't really see why not?

Demo Day

I would like to interrupt with photos of DEMO DAY - a day that both thrills and stresses me in a big way.

But before I show you disarray, let me first show you my new sky light -

Borne of this mess -

faire smashy smash, oui?

The good news is that damn fireplace is gone. The bad news is... it's gonna fucking rain.

Right now this is roof situation:

A BIG HOLE (also - regard my dumpster, it is FULL)

Other fun things of note:

This is a big pipe in the way of my dreams!

 Goodbye tub

I genuinely love the wallpaper we found behind the mirror in the master. SO COOL!

Goodbye annoying separation 

GOODBYE FIREPLACE & WALLS TO KITCHEN AND LIVING

 Goodbye hot water heater... (how great is my sky light tho...)

 Pipe of nightmares

 CIAO scary carpet

 Goodbye master closet! (Side note: playing with spray paint is my new hobby)

A big pile of trash! True story: mom and I thought we could help and haul all this shit into the dumpster. 4 hours later, the pile was IDENTICAL but we sang some cute jams running around "finding tools."

Don't worry, though, she cleans up real nice:

that wallpaperrrrrrrr

Ahhhhh

And a moment of zen:

Room Tour & New Layout

So I left out the rooms because they're largely staying the same but it's hard to show you what we're working with without showing you what we're working towards -

As you'll recall this is our original layout - that means the master is shoved up at the front of the house. I guess to make sure the children do not escape? I'm not really sure. So I've made some adjustments that I think are going to get us more more more

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Our primary bathroom and also the master bathroom is unfortunately this guy - pretty roomy with a weirdly built-in linen closet and a toilet throne for no privacy whatsoever. Hope you like pooping with friends:

Can we take a minute to appreciate the shell sink though? And the weirdly swagged pendant lights? So much to unpack about this room.

This is our master. Painted pink because the exterior is pink so why the hell not:

Am I the only person who thinks carpet is disgusting? It creeps me out so much I can't get over it. I don't want your weird people dander and like whatever weird excretions I can't see. NO.

A door to the bathroom that guests also use. P normal... 

Also please end my life if I ever have to touch those curtains. I'm ruined after that.

Here's the middle bedroom. A departure from the pink adventure we have come to expect: 

 Look at that little idiot vanity INSIDE THE ROOM. Is this a dorm room? You decide.

 Fuckin psychedelic

And here's the back bedroom that I feel like should maybe be the master but is somehow just a beige nothing room because we ran out of fun colors to try:

 Built-in vanity here, too, but beige this time.

 Look @ that sessy window

 Oh a floating closet hump for no reason? Don't mind if I do

AND MORE PINK. Couldn't keep it away. Those shell sinks are *chef's kiss*

Tune in next week when I rip it alllllll out

The good news is I am adding a bathroom and a whole bedroom. The bad news is we lose the shell sinks so I'm bummed.

Here's the new layout - for those of you who don't see stuff like this and can immediately discern differences I'll walk you through them -

The first thing of note that I've mentioned previously is I'm moving the front door to be perpendicular to the street instead of front facing. It's less an aesthetic problem and more of an issue of needing the dead foyer space, so what can you do.

As you'll recall, here's the foyer that serves no purpose:

He's turning into a bathroom for guest use and he's absorbing the tub and toilet from the other bathroom. Basically we are just shifting that wall on the left back 30" and closing in that cased opening to the formal living room.

Next formal living room & formal dining get opened up to the den, kitchen & current breakfast area and our utility room shrinks about 3-4 feet.

On the left is the new layout, right is the original (flipped upside down so you can see the spaces side by side). I plan to add a peninsula to the kitchen so there will be some extra cabinetry. What's currently the breakfast will also get some walls and probably a cased opening (and maybe a barn door?) so it can be a multipurpose area. Fireplace GOES!

Then I'm adding a bedroom in the area that's currently being used as the den and the only usable living space:

So a new (small) bedroom has been added and what was originally the master bathroom becomes a shower only bathroom with a closed off vanity area so two people can be getting ready at once.

Which brings me to the master, no longer at the front of the house:

This bedroom is admittedly a little smaller than the front bedroom but I took back the space from those weird in-room vanities, took out the existing closet, and created a walk-in closet & a master bath. Unfortunately I couldn't find room for a tub but I've installed a few houses this year where the master bath didn't have one at all. Evidently adults do not take baths... Can't relate.

Here is a steamy image of me in the tub at this present moment.

I promise I'm going to start going over finishes, but these are the stupid mistakes I've made so far! What do you think? Am I fucked?